REU Site: MURALS (Materials-focused Undergraduate Research Applied to the Life Sciences) at UMass Amherst

REU 站点：MURALS（以材料为重点的本科生研究应用于生命科学） at UMass Amherst

• 批准号: 2150075
• 负责人: Shelly Peyton
• 金额: $ 39.18万
• 依托单位: University of Massachusetts Amherst
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-04-01 至 2025-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2150075&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: REU; Site; MURALS; Materials; focused

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Non-Technical SummaryThis REU site offers research opportunities for 10 undergraduates each summer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst). This REU site is unique in that it will give students training in how to create advanced materials and how to use these materials to tackle grand challenges in biology. Students work in laboratories at the biology/materials interface, take part in both professional development and technical training provided by the REU site, and learn from near-peer and lab mentors to guide student career development. The site has outstanding mentors from leaders in the field from both Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at UMass Amherst. All labs are physically and intellectually connected through the Institute for Applied Life Sciences at UMass. Industry site visits and entrepreneurial outreach activities help expose students to potential career opportunities in biotechnology. Partnership with the other professional development programs at UMass supports recruitment and mentoring of REU students across all backgrounds to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to research opportunities at UMass. Recruiting efforts at several minority-serving national conferences, as well as partnerships with minority-serving institutions via the Diversity Office in the College of Engineering at UMass ensures opportunities for students from traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM. Evaluation efforts track the long-term outcomes for students from these groups. Technical SummaryThis is a new REU site (MURALS: Materials-focused Undergraduate Research Applied to the Life Sciences) at UMass Amherst, developed to offer research opportunities for 10 undergraduates each summer, broadly in the area of materials for bioengineering applications. The PI of this REU site, Prof. Shelly Peyton, is an expert in bioengineering, with a focus on applying biomaterials development toward solving complex problems in biology. This site has 10 host laboratories, with faculty from the Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering departments at UMass Amherst, who are both physically and intellectually connected through the Institute for Applied Life Sciences at UMass Amherst. The overarching objectives of the MURALS REU Site are to: 1) Recruit and encourage students from traditionally underrepresented groups in engineering to do research at the interface of materials and the life sciences; 2) Inspire students from all backgrounds to pursue graduate studies and/or professional careers at the interface of materials and the life sciences; 3) Train students to be effective scientific communicators, through carefully planned workshops on writing, presentation skills, and working amongst diverse groups of scientists; 4) Integrate REU students within the broader scientific community at UMass Amherst by pairing students with peer mentors outside the lab; 5) Allow students to explore their interests in entrepreneurship, through a partnership with the technology development office within IALS, the Biotechnology Training Program (BTP) at UMass, and industry Site visits; 6) Provide students with professional development workshops and tools (e.g., career choices, ethics in research, interviewing strategies, time management) to instill the techniques to succeed in any industry long after they leave MURALS. Recruiting efforts at several minority-serving national conferences, as well as partnerships with minority-serving institutions via the Diversity Office in the College of Engineering ensure opportunities for students from traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM. Evaluation efforts track the long-term outcomes for students from these groups.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该奖项的全部或部分资金根据《2021 年美国救援计划法案》（公法 117-2）提供。非技术摘要此 REU 网站每年夏天为马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校 (UMass Amherst) 的 10 名本科生提供研究机会。 该 REU 网站的独特之处在于，它将为学生提供有关如何创建先进材料以及如何使用这些材料应对生物学领域重大挑战的培训。 学生在生物/材料界面的实验室工作，参加 REU 站点提供的专业发展和技术培训，并向近邻和实验室导师学习，指导学生的职业发展。 该网站拥有来自麻省大学阿默斯特分校化学工程和生物医学工程领域领导者的杰出导师。所有实验室都通过麻省大学应用生命科学研究所实现物理和智力连接。 行业实地考察和创业推广活动有助于学生接触生物技术领域的潜在职业机会。 与麻省大学其他专业发展项目的合作支持招募和指导各种背景的 REU 学生，以确保每个人都有平等的机会在麻省大学进行研究。在多个为少数族裔服务的全国会议上进行的招募工作，以及通过麻省大学工程学院多元化办公室与少数族裔服务机构建立的合作伙伴关系，确保了来自传统上在 STEM 领域代表性不足的群体的学生的机会。评估工作跟踪这些群体学生的长期成果。技术摘要这是麻省大学阿默斯特分校的一个新 REU 网站（MURALS：以材料为重点的本科生研究应用于生命科学），旨在每年夏天为 10 名本科生提供研究机会，广泛涉及生物工程应用材料领域。该 REU 站点的 PI Shelly Peyton 教授是生物工程专家，专注于应用生物材料开发来解决生物学中的复杂问题。该站点有 10 个主机实验室，其中包括来自麻省大学阿默斯特分校化学工程和生物医学工程系的教员，他们通过麻省大学阿默斯特分校应用生命科学研究所在身体和智力上都有联系。 MURALS REU 站点的总体目标是： 1) 招募并鼓励工程领域传统上代表性不足的群体的学生进行材料和生命科学交叉领域的研究； 2) 激励各种背景的学生在材料和生命科学领域攻读研究生和/或职业生涯； 3) 通过精心策划的关于写作、演讲技巧以及与不同科学家群体合作的研讨会，将学生培养成为有效的科学传播者； 4) 通过将学生与实验室外的同伴导师配对，将 REU 学生融入麻省大学阿默斯特分校更广泛的科学界； 5) 通过与 IALS 内的技术开发办公室、麻省大学生物技术培训计划 (BTP) 以及行业实地考察的合作，让学生探索他们对创业的兴趣； 6) 为学生提供专业发展研讨会和工具（例如，职业选择、研究道德、面试策略、时间管理），以灌输在他们离开壁画很久之后在任何行业取得成功的技术。在多个少数族裔服务全国会议上进行的招募工作，以及通过工程学院多元化办公室与少数族裔服务机构建立伙伴关系，确保了来自传统上在 STEM 领域代表性不足的群体的学生的机会。评估工作跟踪这些群体的学生的长期成果。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。